The Brave, The Brains, The Badgers, The 'Blivious
by Quicquidlibet
Summary: After the War, there was the generation that had to rebuild the Wizarding World. And how do they do that? They must get past the prejudices that caused the War in the first place. OCs, Immediately after DH, but before the epilogue. T for language.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello. WARNING, THIS FIC CONTAINS: OCs, AU, lack of canon characters (aside from teachers), Pottermore accounts, a character with a strange speech pattern.**

**Each character is made using information from a Pottermore account. The main characters are taken from my friends' accounts.**

**There is a forum for this fic: www(dot)fanfiction(dot)net/forum/The_Brave_The_Brains_The_Badgers_The_Blivious/111593/ Just replace the (dot)s with actual periods to get there.**

**I apologize for Winter's speech pattern. I don't own Harry Potter or anything related.**

* * *

**Hogwarts: Home of the Brave, the Brains, the Badgers, and the 'Blivious.**

"Tha's IT!" Eleven year old Timothy Cross jumped in surprise as his eldest sister, Winter, flung herself dramatically into the train compartment and onto the seat across from him, talking rather loudly to no one in particular. "I've 'ad ENOUGH of pinin' over tha' idiot boy. So 'e doesn't notice tha' I've been bloody well in LOVE with 'im for LORD KNOWS 'ow long. I can deal wi' tha'! I'm a Badger! And the 'honey badger don't care. Honey badger don't give a shit!'" she quoted decisively, before noticing her younger brother. "Oh, sorry Tim. Din't mean to swear in fronta ya. Wait. Nah, I take tha' back, you're used ta it, ain'tcha?"

"Um..." Timothy began. "Winter-"

"But really, 'Thy," Winter continued, completely ignoring her brother's attempts at responding. "Why is tha' Bris' boy so bleedin' OBLIVIOUS?"

"Win..." Timothy tried again, only to be cut off once more.

"Honestly! I though' Gryffs were the 'blivious ones! Ain't Slyth'rins s'posed ta be clever an' stuff? 'Ow's it tha' 'e STILL can't see tha' I like 'im?" she continued, only to stop when she noticed her brother cough and point toward the door. She grinned. "Oh, 'ey there, 'Rora, Kat! I was jus' talkin' bout your brother. Is 'e with ya?"

Aurora Bristle giggled as her elder sister, Kat, grinned.

"No, he ran into Hugo Arrington and stayed behind to chat," Kat informed the older girl, who proceeded to huff in indignation.

"Th'idiot. 'E promised ta si' wi' me. Musta forgot," Winter muttered, crossing her arms over her chest and pouting.

"Don't worry," Aurora piped up cheerfully. "Jay said to tell you he won't be long."

Kat smirked as Winter's mood did a complete one-eighty as she perked up immediately at the news, while Aurora remained completely unaware of the older girl's crush.

"Do you mind if we sit with you?" Kat asked Timothy, who nodded while fiddling awkwardly with his shirt.

"Hi, Timothy!" Aurora chirped happily as she sat down next to him. "Are you excited for the Sorting?"

The boy blushed. "Hullo, Aurora. I'm a little nervous, actually. How about you?"

"I'm not nervous," Aurora told him with a smile. "I'm just wondering where I go. I can't picture myself in any set House, you know? Where do you think you'll go?"

"I dunno," Timothy began before his sister cut him off loudly, pulling him onto her lap.

"I'll tell ya wha' 'ouse 'e'll be in! 'E's gon be a Badger wi' me! It's bad enough tha' Brooke ain't a 'Puff; I'm no' gon 'ave another sibling leave me for another 'ouse!" Winter declared, ruffling her brother's hair with affection as he squirmed to escape the fifteen year old girl's grip.

"Winter!" he exclaimed in annoyance. "Let me go!"

Aurora giggled. "You look real silly, Timothy."

"Winter! Stop it!" Timothy whined, his face turning bright red.

"What's going on in here?" Timothy looked up to the boisterous voice of his cousin Wilfred Fractiss, spotting him standing in the doorway of the compartment. "Mind if I join?"

"Sure!" Winter said with a grin, sliding on the seat to make room for Wilfred between her and Kat.

Wilfred laughed and pulled his struggling cousin from Winter's lap onto his. "So, what'd I miss?"

"Winter's mad cos Jay's oblivious. She's also decided that Timothy has to be in Hufflepuff with her," Kat explained with a devious grin.

"Why am I oblivious?" Jay asked as he came in after Wilfred and sat himself down next to his youngest sister.

"Cos ya need ta ask!" Winter replied, sticking out her tongue at him.

"I wouldn't need to if you'd just tell me."

"Wait, wait, wait. This is more important," Wilfred interrupted, with mock indignation, maintaining his hold on his cousin. "Timothy? A Hufflepuff? Who said you get to decide that? Maybe I want him in Gryffindor with me!"

Timothy groaned and slumped against the older boy in resignation. "I don't get a say in this, do I?"

"Nope," Kat answered, laughing. "Hey, you could be a Ravenclaw. I know from experience that we're a great house."

"Slytherin is the best," Jay interjected. "Hands down."

"OBJECTION!" Wilfred exclaimed, mock glaring at the fifteen year old boy and tightening his hold on Timothy. "You lie! Gryffindor is clearly the best!"

"I said 'hands down'! That means you can't object!" Jay shot back, before breaking into laughter when Wilfred very pointedly stuck his hand in the air.

"So, are we all agreed?" Winter cut in. "'Ufflepuff is the best 'ouse, yeah?"

"Never!" Jay, Wilfred, and Kat all shouted, while Timothy and Aurora just laughed.


	2. Chapter 2

**Kara was fun to write. Sorry this is shorter than the last chapter. These characters were more difficult to write.**

**Each character is made using information from a Pottermore account. The main characters are taken from my friends' accounts.**

**There is a forum for this fic: www(dot)fanfiction(dot)net/forum/The_Brave_The_Brains_The_Badgers_The_Blivious/111593/ Just replace the (dot)s with actual periods to get there.**

**I don't own Harry Potter or anything related.**

* * *

**Hogwarts: Home of the Brave, the Brains, the Badgers, and the 'Blivious.**

Thirteen year old Kara Naugler bounced in her seat, her gaze flitting from the window to the door to the ceiling to her sister and then back to the window. "I can't wait to get to Hogwarts! I love Hogwarts! Especially the food. The food is to DIE for! Though not literally, because then you couldn't eat the food. I'm also looking forward to my dorm. I love my dorm. My roommates are so nice." She would have continued had her older sister, Genevieve, not covered her mouth.

"Kara," she said with a laugh. "Calm down."

Twelve year old Faith Imadraloosa giggled as her housemate continued to bounce excitedly, Genevieve's hand still covering her mouth. "You should see her in the common room."

"You should see her at home," the sixteen year old replied jokingly.

Thirteen year old Hope, Faith's older sister, laughed. "Do we want to?"

Kara finally wriggled free of the hand and continued talking. "Am I rambling again? Sorry, I'm just so excited, you know? We're going back to Hogwarts! I've been waiting ALL summer for this! I'm SO excited!"

The compartment door opened. "We're looking for Brooke's family. Have any of you seen them?" the sixteen year old boy in the door way, Hugo Arrington, asked, not even bothering to introduce himself or the thirteen year old girl with him.

The girl rolled her eyes. "No need to be rude, Arrington," she scolded before continuing in a polite voice to the girls in the compartment. "I'm looking for my sister, Winter Cross. She's a fifth year Hufflepuff. Either her or my cousin, Wilfred Fractiss. He's a fourth year Gryffindor. Do any of you know where they are?"

"Sorry, no," Hope replied. "I know Winter, but I don't know where she is now. Sorry."

"It's okay," Brooke replied, before turning to Genevieve. "Wilf is in your house, right? Have you seen him today?"

"No," Genevieve told her. "I haven't. Sorry."

"Oh," Brooke answered. "Thanks anyway."

"Do you want to sit with us?" Faith asked. "We have enough room."

"Really?" Brooke's face lit up and she sat in an empty seat. "Thanks. All the other compartments were full. That's why I was looking for my family. I was hoping to sit with them. I'm Brooke Cross, third year Slytherin. I don't think we've met." She held out her hand to shake.

Kara shook the proferred hand enthusiastically. "Hi, I'm Kara Naugler. I'm a third year Ravenclaw. It's nice to meet you! This is Hope Imadraloosa, a third year Hufflepuff and her sister Faith. Faith is a second year Ravenclaw. And this here is my sister Genny. She's a sixth year Gryffindor. It's really nice to meet you, Brooke! Did I already say that? I think I did. Oh well!"

The Slytherin girl laughed. "I already knew you and Hope, Kara. We have classes together, remember? I was introducing myself to Faith and Genny."

"Oh. Oops," Kara said, looking startled for a moment, but relatively unfazed. Then she turned to the boy still in the doorway. "Hi! Who are you?"

"Hugo Arrington," Genevieve supplied, annoyance leaking into her voice. "Sixth year Slytherin."

Hugo gave her a wry smile. "Hello to you, too, Naugler. Don't worry, I have my own compartment. I won't bother you any longer," he finished sarcastically.

"Good," the Gryffindor girl replied, shooing him with a wave of her hand. "Get going then."

With a roll of his eyes, the Slytherin boy left, letting the door slide shut.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hufflepuff and Slytherin today. Gryffindor and Ravenclaw will be the next chapter.**

**GUYS, WE FOUND ARRINGTON! But not really...**

**Each character is made using information from a Pottermore account. The main characters are taken from my friends' accounts.**

**There is a forum for this fic: forum/The_Brave_The_Brains_The_Badgers_The_Blivious/111593/**

**I don't own Harry Potter or anything related.**

* * *

**Hogwarts: Home of the Brave, the Brains, the Badgers, and the 'Blivious.**

Winter yawned and rested her elbows on the table, propping her chin on her palms. "Alrigh'," she groaned. "Oo se' off the fireworks in the common room in the middle of the nigh'?"

Timothy looked up from his plate. "Fireworks?"

A seventh year gave the younger boy an odd look. "You didn't hear them?"

"Thy's a deep sleeper," Winter mumbled groggily. "'E can sleep through anythin'."

The seventh year turned to her. "You didn't catch the culprit?"

"No, Jones, I caugh' 'em, I'm jus' askin' for the 'ell of it," Winter deadpanned.

"Your Slytherin is showing, sis," Timothy commented absentmindedly as he filled his plate with bacon, leaving the platter empty.

Jones raised an eyebrow at Timothy. "Leave some for the rest of us, Cross."

Timothy stared at him blankly, before putting one piece of bacon back on the empty platter.

"Thy, pu' the bacon back. Mum says ya 'ave ta share it 'ere, 'member?" Winter cut in, yawning at the end.

"Fine," Timothy said, pouting slightly, as he dumped the bacon back on the platter, leaving only two pieces for himself.

"Oh. My. MERLIN. Winter, is THIS your little brother?" Winter and Timothy turned their gazes to the fourth year girl who plopped herself down in the seat next to Timothy, across from Winter. "He looks like he could be eight! You never said he was so fucking ADORABLE!"

Timothy blushed and stared down at his plate, nervously scooting away from the girl in embarrassment.

Winter laughed. "Anna, this is my little brother Timothy. Thy, this is Anna Hawthorn. She missed the Sortin' cos she was in the 'Ospital Wing. She 'ad an asthma attack on the train."

"Hi!" Anna exclaimed with a smile. Timothy glanced at her and gave her a quick nod before continuing to mess with his food.

"'E only talks ta people tha' 'e's known for a long time," his sister told Anna. "'E's jus' shy like tha'. 'E'll talk in FRONT of people, bu' 'e won' talk TO them," she explained.

* * *

Brooke Cross was pissed. The boy across from her, Jay Bristle, was either completely oblivious to her murderous mood (which was highly likely) or purposely ignoring her anger (also highly likely). And knowing him and his love of annoying her, Brooke was more inclined to go with the latter option.

"What crawled up your ass and died?" At the sound of Hugo Arrington's voice, she fixed her glare on him instead.

"It's morning," Jay told him. "She hates all things that have to do with waking up- OW!" he cut off with an exclamation of pain as Brooke kicked him under the table.

"For your information," Brooke began, her voice like ice, "I'm pissed because SOMEONE stole my store of fireworks that I was saving for the first Quidditch match."

"Who would do that?" Jay asked with obviously false innocence. Brooke glared once more.

"I don't know, but I'm sure Winter would be glad to."

Jay visibly paled. "Please don't tell Winter. I'll pay you back, I swear."

Brooke smirked.

"Are you sure you want to swear that?" Hugo asked Jay warily. "You know how the Cross girls are."

Jay glanced nervously at the older boy. "Yeah, I know. I grew up with them, remember?"

"Which is worse, blackmailed by the younger or yelled at by the elder?"

The fifth year looked back at the third year girl. "Actually, now that you mention it..."

"If I may interrupt," Brooke interjected suddenly. "I'd like to know now. Are you willing to accept my terms, or am I telling Winter who the real culprit is?"

Jay and Hugo shared a knowing glance.

* * *

Nearly the entire Hufflepuff table - excluding Winter and Timothy - jumped when Jay flung himself so that he was sitting on Winter's lap, pretending to sob. "Winter, please don't kill me! I did it! I'm the one who set off Brooke's fireworks in your common room! It was me!" he declared dramatically.

Winter laughed and shoved him off onto the floor. "I 'ave no idea what ya jus' said."

Jay sighed loudly and got to his feet, only to sit on Winter's lap once more when he realized there wasn't any room at the rest of the Hufflepuff table. "I accept full responsibility for the fireworks in your common room last night. Although, you should know that I was technically confiscating them from YOUR sister."

"Mos' prefects don' USE the fireworks once they confiscate them," Winter told him with a roll of her eyes. "Ya know I 'ave ta give ya a detention now, yeah?"

"Yeah..."

"Now, GE' OFF MY LAP!"

Jay let out a grunt of pain as Winter pushed him to the floor again. "I'm sorry?" he offered in an attempt to stall her anger.

"No, you're no'. BU' YA STILL AIN'T GON DO IT AGAIN, RIGH'?"

Jay's eyes widened as Winter crouched to yell in his face. "Right... Can I get up now?"

Winter scowled. "Yeah, bu' ya ain't gon si' at the Puff table today. Go back ta your Snake table."


	4. Chapter 4

**The Brave and the Brains today.**

**Talla, Quill, I love you both, but I've gotta be honest. Faith's reaction to you two is just how I picture her personality. No offense to you guys.**

**And I know I said no canon characters, but I said teachers are the exception, and I love Neville, and he IS a professor in canon, so... Yeah.**

**And this is the chapter where you learn how long after the war this takes place. _EDIT: I've changed how long ago it was. It's now only been two years. This is the first year Hogwarts has been open since the Final Battle. All students are in the year they would have been in if not for the war, regardless of the curriculum they've missed. For example, a thirteen year old may be in third year, but they're on a first year curriculum._**

**Each main character is made using information from a Pottermore account. The main characters are taken from my friends' accounts.**

**There is a forum for this fic: /forum/The_Brave_The_Brains_The_Badgers_The_Blivious/111593/**

**I don't own Harry Potter or anything related.**

* * *

**Hogwarts: Home of the Brave, the Brains, the Badgers, and the 'Blivious.**

Eleven-year-old Aurora Bristle glanced once more at the fourth year sitting next to her, Wilf Fractiss. He was staring at Genny Naugler. Again.

She really needed to do something about that.

Genny yawned, not noticing the stare, and smiled at Aurora. "Good morning."

"Morning Genny!" Aurora chirped happily in response. "Wilf is staring at you."

Wilf immediately spluttered and very nearly choked on his breakfast, for his toast had decided that moment was a very good moment indeed to block off his throat.

Genny's responding grin was rather nerve-wracking to the boy. "Why are you staring at me, Wilf?"

He swallowed his toast with difficulty and hastily replied. "I'm not!"

"No?" Oh Godric, she sounded so- so- SMUG, like she was perfectly aware that he was lying or something. Godric, he was doomed, wasn't he?

"No! I'm not!" the doomed fourteen-year-old insisted.

Genny laughed. "Then what ARE you staring at?"

"I'm- um- Kara!" Wilf stammered. "I'm staring at Kara! Your sister! Behind you! At the Ravenclaw table! Right there! Yeah!"

"My SISTER?" Genny exclaimed, although it was hard to tell if she was shocked, annoyed, or happy. Wilf didn't know which he preferred.

"Yes!" he persisted, his eyes flickering to the third year in question in a moment's hesitation. "I mean- um..."

"Do you like her?" Genny demanded fervantly, but apparently saw no need to actually let him respond, for she continued to talk. "You like her! Oh Merlin, Wilf has a crush on Kara. WILF. Has a crush. On KARA. Merlin. This is just... Oh goodness, you guys would be SO cute together! Right, Aurora?"

Aurora was giggling madly.

Wilf decided that moment was a very good moment indeed to attempt to hide under the table.

* * *

Kat had her nose buried in her book, and Faith Imadraloosa was trying to figure out how she managed to maneuver her food perfectly without tearing her eyes from the page.

Kara wasn't here yet, and Faith didn't know her other housemates as well as her two upperclassmen friends.

Suddenly, she heard maniacal laughter a few seats down on her left. Talla and Quill were talking again. Faith shifted surreptitiously further away from them. The two fifth years were funny, that much was true, and she had to admit that their conversations were always interesting and fun, but she was still a teensy bit scared of them.

"FAITH!" she jumped in slight surprise when Kara grabbed her shoulders from behind. The thirteen-year-old girl laughed and sat down next to the youngeer girl. "Good morning!"

"Hi, Kara," Faith laughed. "Ready for the first day of classes?"

"Totally! I can't wait until Transfiguration, I hope I have it first. What about you? Looking forward to Herbology?" Kara asked her enthusiastically while she piled her plate with pancakes.

"Yeah," the second year laughed. "We have a new teacher this year, did you hear?"

"Of course I did! What do you take me for?" Kara exclaimed, pretending to be offended at the implication that she DIDN'T know some piece of gossip, before breaking into uncontrollable laughter. "What have you heard about him?"

"All I know is that his name is Neville Longbottom and he's the official new Gryffindor Head."

Kara blinked. "Neville Longbottom. Why does that name sound familiar?"

Kat finally looked up from her book. "We learned about him in Recent Wizarding History, remember? He was in the war, friend of Harry Potter's, killed Voldemort's snake?"

"Oh yeah!" Kara and Faith exclaimed in unison.

"Sorry," Faith said. "We're still new to this whole 'there-was-a-war-going-on-beneath-the-Muggle-world's-noses-that-ended-just-two-years-ago' thing."

"Sorry," Kara chimed in. "I like your name for it, Faith. Just so you know."

Kat waved her hand nonchalantly. "It's fine. It's not like you've grown up hearing about it like I did. Most Muggleborns don't know it as well as magically-raised students." She paused. "Er, I didn't mean that as a slight to Muggleborns or anything."

Kara laughed her concern off. "We know, don't worry."


End file.
